I think that was his plan all along. I think he had a plan the minute he was hired and came in and immediately implemented it by starting to backburner the people he wanted out. That way he could further prove to Corday that the show could go on without these people. I remember being shocked when MBE began being used a decent amount in January. It still makes me wonder about something going down with SN and Tomlin. I've been wondering if maybe Tomlin would've kept Kayla and sent Steve off but Corday stepped in a bit on that decision and decided to remove them together.

It's possible of course, but after MBE's radio interview, I doubt it. It sounded like they'd let them both know that their contracts wouldn't be renewed, and that the only real surprise was how quickly things wrapped up. Earlier they'd been told March.

She also gave the impression that the number of guaranteed episodes ran for the whole length of the contract, not just year by year. (?) Adding up their total shows from 2006-2009, SN still appeared 4 more times than MBE (296 to 292). It seems like there may have been some airtime to burn for her at the end, which is why she was so involved with the Jarlena good-byes. She also had those random talks with Daniel. I think SN may have just run out of time sooner; between 2006 and 2007, he outpaced MBE by 20 shows. I would read more into the way he was used when he did show up, with just a line here or there, and nothing that was really characteristic of Steve Johnson in months.